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November 15, 2018

OpenTable reveals Christmas Day restaurant-dining is up 240% as compared to five years ago

2017 saw a 14% booking increase in diners as compared to 2016

Italian named second most popular cuisine for Christmas Day dining

London, 15 November 2018: If the thought of 6am turkey alarms and mountains of potatoes to peel isn’t leaving you feeling very festive, join the thousands of UK diners who are dining out this Christmas. New research from OpenTable reveals the trend for UK diners eating out on Christmas Day shows no signs of slowing down, with bookings in 2017 rising by 240% as compared to five years ago.

The world’s leading restaurant booking service analysed bookings from 2012 to 2017 to identify British habits for dining out on 25th December, as more consumers opted to shun the kitchen and book themselves in for a stress-free Christmas dinner. OpenTable’s data revealed Londoners are increasingly eager to outsource the Christmas kitchen dramas with a 266% increase in restaurant bookings for the 25th as compared to five years ago, exceeding the percentage increase of bookings over the same time period across the UK for Christmas Day.

As expected UK diners are opting for traditional turkey and trifle with British cuisine ranking as the most popular (19%) on Christmas Day. Italian fayre is the second most popular Christmas cuisine with 12% of the UK booking Italian restaurants, followed by Modern European (8%), Indian (7%) and French (7%).

Adrian Valeriano, VP EMEA, OpenTable, said, “Christmas Day restaurant bookings are showing no sign of slowing down, highlighting that UK diners want to hand over the Christmas stress and focus on enjoying the day with friends and family. In the UK we are spoilt with choice of restaurants that provide quality dining experiences in an intimate environment, perfect for a Christmas Day dinner.”

Top 5 cuisines booked for Christmas Day dining 2017

British (19%)

Italian (12%)

Modern European (8%)

Indian (7%)

French (7%)

-ENDS-

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